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Mentorships, cellphone usage, cyberbullying and local programs were just some of the topics mentioned during a roundtable discussion on youth mental health in Kosciusko County.
The event, hosted by Bowen Health on Wednesday, was held at Bowen Health's new office at 901 Anchorage Point Drive, Warsaw. Several local community leaders and Bowen Health staff participated in the discussion. Panelists included Chris McKeand, moderator for the Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy; Dr. David Hoffert, Warsaw Community Schools' superintendent; Kosciusko Superior Court I Judge Karin McGrath; Kosciusko County Sheriff Jim Smith; Kara Shively, Kosciusko County juvenile probation officer; Dr. Siquilla Liebetrau, vice president of clinical services and licensed clinical psychologist at Bowen Health; Tess Ottenweller, vice president of intensive services at Bowen Health; and Shannon Hannon, Bowen Health chief operating officer.
Bowen Health CEO Dr. Rob Ryan said roundtable discussions first started in 2023 when former Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch asked Bowen to host one in Fort Wayne. Since then, Ryan was inspired to continue hosting discussions.
Bowen Health Director of Community Engagement Michael Murphy moderated the discussion, asking each panelist two questions. Murphy asked Liebetrau about youth having struggles with mental health issues now more than ever and asked her to elaborate on what she's seeing.
"One thing we see very often still, and it's always been around, is bullying, and more specifically cyberbullying, because you can't really escape that impact," said Liebetrau. "It follows you everywhere. It hits especially hard when somebody starts attacking you based on the way you dress, who you hang out with, or where you're going."
Liebetrau also noted youth having an online presence in their community is almost as important as being present in-person.
"It's almost like if you're not online, you don't exist," said Liebetrau.
She said 1 in 5 youth in northwest Indiana experience suicidal thoughts. Liebetrau expressed the importance of having conversations with youth about their thoughts and feelings.
"Making it an everyday conversation is important," said Liebetrau.
Hannon said peer advocates are also crucial in helping youth overcome mental health struggles.
With physical health needs, smoking/vaping cessation and obesity treatment were noted for youth and Liebetrau was asked how Bowen Health is stepping in to help with those matters.
She said smoking rates are down for youth, but that vaping is still very high. Liebetrau emphasized the importance of talking with youth about the dangers of smoking and vaping, with Bowen offering in-person and virtual treatment options.
"We've trained all our providers so that they know how to have the conversation and how to help someone create a solid plan on how they can quit, or even to decrease their use," said Liebetrau.
Liebetrau said obesity rates for youth are "staggering" and eventually lead to chronic health conditions.
In local programming for assisting youth who come into contact with the law, Shively said Kosciusko County is part of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. This initiative focuses on reducing the number of youths who are placed in detention centers.
"Research shows across the board detaining children is very harmful to their mental health," said Shively. "It also has a huge, negative impact on their education. In 2017, when we started JDAI, we had 56 Kosciusko County youth who were admitted into secure detention. We've seen a 98% decrease in that number. We work really hard to come up with a plan so that public safety is not compromised but neither is that individual's mental health."
Shively emphasized the importance of youth having mentors, as that typically makes youth more likely to discuss their struggles. Creating positive relationships with law enforcement was also discussed, with Camp HERO and school resource officers' relationships with students presented as examples of local officers interacting with youth.
Hoffert was asked about parents' relationships with Warsaw students.
"The biggest thing we encourage for parents is to talk with their kids," said Hoffert. "And sometimes, a parent doesn't want to admit there's a problem going on with their kid until something is falling apart."
He also said it was okay for parents to have access to cellphone passwords and monitoring systems, noting a lot of kindergarten students already have cellphones without any filtering in place.
"We always say 'wait 'til eight,'" said Hoffert. "And eight isn't 8 years old, eight is eighth grade for a cellphone, before you even start with that. But I would say that's against the norm today. I would say the average is probably about third grade. And it's amazing what kids can find so quickly inside of a (cellphone). So it's okay to have rules."
Concluding the discussion, Ryan there's still a lot of work for Bowen Health to do and reinvest in the community by assisting youth. He also expressed interest in continuing roundtable discussions to further better the community.
